Saturday

Hononegah rallied from down 35 pins after five games to overtake the Huskies in the sixth and claim its third straight regional title and fourth in five years.

“We really turned it around (toward the end) of the fifth game and started striking,” Hononegah senior Jacob Sommer said. “I had a lot of confidence going into the last game that we’d get it done.”

Sommer bowled a series of 1,364, which was third-best on his team behind sophomores Cameron Tyler (1,369) and Justin Mooney (1,424), who helped Hononegah (6,695) top Harlem (6,690) for the second time in three days. The Indians beat the Huskies for the conference title Thursday.

“It definitely gives us momentum to beat them after being under them (at tournaments) all season,” Mooney said.

Junior Ethan Pash claimed an individual regional title with a series of 1,437 for Harlem, which expects to be battling it out closely with Hononegah throughout the postseason that continues for both squads next week at sectionals.

“We knew we were going to be neck and neck and it’s good,” Harlem coach Nick Whitmire said. “Someone is there to push us or we’re there to push them. Both teams need that.”

The Indians are still hoping to make a run at a second straight state title this postseason despite starting the season with a much less experienced squad than last year. Hononegah lost five starters to graduation.

“Just getting this new team to gel together was the biggest thing we worked on,” Hononegah coach Brad Sommer said. “They all can bowl, it’s just a matter of do they have the mental game to work together and support each other and pull together and we’ve done that the last month. The chemistry has been there and the bowling has been there.”

Rockford Christian (5,813) and Belvidere (5,812) both finished well behind Hononegah and Harlem, but their third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, qualified them for the sectional next week at Don Carter Lanes.

Also advancing to the sectionals as individuals are Belvidere North’s Cal Taylor, Nole Hefty, Gabriel Lord and Justin Bragg, Guilford’s John Jurgens and South Beloit’s Brandon Redieske.

Freeport Regional

The host Pretzels trailed Auburn by 84 pins entering the sixth and final game before rallying top the Knights by 24 and claim their second straight regional title.

Ty Collalti led Freeport (6,003) with a high series of 1,298, which was third-best overall. Matt Seigel’s 1,306 was tops for Auburn (5,979) and second overall behind Oregon’s Austin Strite, who claimed the individual regional title with his series of 1,372. Boylan (5,684) and Oregon (5,538) qualified for sectionals as a team, while Jefferson’s Landen Cowell, East’s Corbyn Villareal and Rochelle’s Brady Shank advanced as individuals.

Adam Kradle: 815-987-1388; akradle@rrstar.com; @AdamJKradle

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